Midnight and Moonshine is now well and truly out in the wild!
On November 30th, we had the World Launch up in Brisbane, at Avid Reader. The evening was sultry, the wine flowing, the bookshop filled with lovely, smiling, book-buying folks. Thanks, everyone, for coming! A very special thanks to Kate Eltham for her unbelievable launch speech (left me feeling a bit misty-eyed!), to Trent Jamieson for acting as MC for the evening, and to Angela and her lovely sister, Michelle, for making all of the gorgeous limited-edition chapbooks (illustrated by Kathleen Jennings).
If you’re keen to hear what our readings sounded like on the night, you can listen to the recordings Angela made, here. First, you’ll hear Angela reading the last parts of ‘Seeds’ (the first story in the collection), then me reading the opening passage of ‘Seven Sleepers (the final story in the book) followed by a most entertaining ballyhoo by none other than our fab MC, Trent.
By the end of the night, we were footsore but over the moon with how well the launch went. The next day, we headed to Pulp Fiction Books for a signing session — during which time I somehow managed to obtain a bunch of new books — before driving up to Eumarella Shores for a luxury getaway weekend. A few days of slothing, reading, drinking much-needed cocktails, and escaping the humidity and heat by the wonderfully breezy lakeside. ‘Twas bliss!
Two weeks later (in other words, this weekend), we had the Otherworld Launch of Midnight and Moonshine down here in Adelaide at the SA Writers Centre. It seemed like the Brisbanites brought the heat and humidity with them when they arrived; Friday night was sweltering up in the Centre’s lovely atrium, but that didn’t deter us! Liz and Russ came from Perth to sell books and say more than a few words about the book’s inception; Kirstyn McDermott and Jason Nahrung co-launched the book and gave a most delightful speech — with puns, corks AND a one-of-a-kind work of art, made by Kirstyn herself: a portrait depicting the author that is the combined Brains.
HUGE thanks to Kirstyn and Jason for coming over from Melbourne for the festivities! There was a delicious book-cover mud cake, not to mention all the wonderful friends who soldiered on through the heat, and Angela and I capped off the evening by doing a couple of readings before kicking off our shoes for the night.
(I kept Kirstyn’s drawing. It will adorn my office. Oh yes, it will.)
Thanks to everyone who helped to make the launches so much fun! And thanks to David and Chad for all their hard work setting up, cleaning afterwards, taking pictures, and making things run so smoothly.
For those who missed out on the events, here are some more pics — click on the thumbnails, and it’ll be like you were virtually there! Especially if you sit in a sauna while looking at them. Really. It will be just like you were there. 🙂
Lisa L. Hannett 